Leather-washing machine



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LEATHER WASHING MACHINE.

No. 578,257. Patented Mar. 2, 1897.

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J. MCKENZIE & C. O. SHAW. LEATHER WASHING MACHINE- No. 578,257. PatentedMar. 2, 1897.

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ATTORNEYS.

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JAMES MCKENZIE AND CHARLES ORLANDO SHAWV, OF CHEBOYGAN,

MICHIGAN.

LEATHER WASHlNG MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 578,257, dated March 2,1897.

Application filed March 31, 1896.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JAMES MCKENZIE and CHARLES ORLANDO SHAW, ofGheboygan, in the county of Oheboygan and State of Michigan, haveinvented a new, and Improved Leather-W'ashing Machine, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedleather-washing machine which is simple and durable in construction,arranged to insure a proper and economical washing of the leather and topermit the operator to readily and conveniently reverse the feed-rollsand move the latter forward or backward without much strain on theworking parts.

The invention consists principally of two revoluble brushes gearedtogether and carrying driving friction-pulleys on their shafts and adriven friction-pulley intermediate of said driving friction-pulleys andadapted to be moved in frictional contact with either driving-pulley,said friction-pulley being geared with the feed-rolls.

The invention also consists of certain parts and details andcombinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter andthen pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improvement, and Fig. 2 is a rearend elevation of the same with part in section.

The improved leather-washing machine is provided with asuitably-constructed frame A, in which are j ournaled the revolublebrushes B and 0, located one above the other and carrying on theirshafts B O the gear-wheels D D, in mesh with each other, so that thebrushes revolve in unison. On the shaft 0' is secured a driving-pulleyE, connected by belt with suitable machinery for imparting a rotarymotion to the brush 0, and by the gearwheels D and D a like motion tothe brush B.

The leather to be washed between the brushes B and C is fed to thelatter by the usual feed-rolls F F, rotating in unison by being gearedtogether by gear-wheels F and F respectively, secured on the shafts ofsaid Serial No. 585,586. (No model.)

feed-rolls. On the shaft F of the lower feedroll F is secured a largegear-wheel F in mesh with a pinion G, mounted to rotate loosely on astud H, said pinion G being fastened to one face of a drivenfriction-pulley I, normally held in contact with a friction-pulley J,secured on the shaft 0 of the lower brushO. The friction-pulley I isalso adapted to be moved out of frictional contact with the pulley J andin frictional contact with adriven pulley J, secured on the shaft B ofthe upper revoluble brush B. The stud H is held in a bearing K, fittedto slide vertically in a suitable guideway L, attached to one of thestandards of the frame A, and the upper end of the bearing K is pressedon by a spring N,

so as to hold the said bearing normally in a lowermost position and thefriction-pulley I in contact with the friction-pulley J.

The upper end of the bearing K is connected bya link 0 with a lever 1fulcrumed on the frame A and connected by a link Q with a treadle Runder the control of the operator feeding the leather to the feed-rollsF F. It will be seen that when the operator presses the treadle R aswinging motion is given to the lever P, so that the link 0 pulls thebearing K upward against the tension of the spring N. This movement ofthe bearing K moves the friction-pulley I out of frictional contact withthe pulley J and in frictional contact with the pulley J, but the pinionG I remains in gear with the gear-wheel F The operation is as follows:When the several parts are in the position illustrated in Fig. 1 and arotary motion is given to thebrushes B and O in the direction of thearrow a", then the friction-pulley J imparts a rotary motion to thefriction-pulley I in the direction of the arrow b, and the pinion G onsaid frictionpulley I imparts a rotary motion to the gearwheel F andfeed-roll F in the direction of.

the arrow 0. Thus when the operator moves the leather to the twofeed-rolls F F the leather is drawn in between the said feed-rolls andto the brushes B O to be acted on by the latter to clean the leather.When the end of the leather is near the feed-rolls F and F, then theoperator presses the treadle B, so that the friction-pulley I moves outof frictional contact with the pulley J and into frictional contact withthe pulley J, whereby the motion of the friction-pulley I, the pinion G,and gear-wheel F is reversed and the feedrolls F and F are likewiseturned backward to draw the leather back out of the machine. As soon asthe operator releases the pressure on the treadle R the spring N againmoves the friction-pulley I out of engagement with the pulley J and infrictional contact with the pulley J. The motion of the feed-rolls F andF is then again reversed and another forward feeding of the leather canbe had. Now it will be seen that by the arrangement described an almostinstant reversion of the feed-rolls F F is obtained without much strainon the working parts of the machine and without much exertion on thepart of the operator. The friction -pulley J is preferably somewhatlarger in diameter than the frictionpulley J, so as to insure a morerapid return motion of the leather when being drawn backward from thebrush-rolls B and O forthe purpose of changing the feeding of theleather to the machine.

Having thus fully described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent-- 1. A leather-washing machine, comprising tworevoluble brushes geared together, feedrolls adapted to be drivenforward and backward to feed the leather to and from the said revolublebrushes, driving frictionpulleys held on the shafts of said revolublebrushes, and a driven friction-pulley intermediate of saidfriction-pulleys and adapted to be moved in frictional contact witheither driving friction-pulley, said driven friction-pulley being gearedwith one ofthe feed-rolls, substantially as shown and described.

2. A leather-washing machine, comprising two revoluble brushes gearedtogether, feedrolls adapted to be driven forward and backward to feedthe leather to and from said revoluble brushes, driving friction-pulleysheld on the shafts of said revoluble brushes, a driven friction-pulleyintermediate of said friction-pulleys and adapted to be moved infrictional contact with either driving frictionpulley, said drivenfriction pulley being geared with one of the feed-rolls, a spring forholding said driven friction-pulley normally in contact with one of thedriving-pulleys, and atreadle-and-lever mechanism under the control ofthe operator for moving said driven friction pulley out of contact withone drivingpulley and in contact with the other drivingpulley,substantially as shown and described.

3. A leather-washing machine provided with feed-rolls geared togetherand rotating in unison, an independent gear-wheel secured on the shaftof one of the feed-rolls, a friction-pulley mounted to rotate loosely apinion secured to the face of said pulley and in mesh with saidindependent gear-wheel and means whereby said friction-pulley may bedriven in opposite directions to reverse the movement of the feed-rolls,substantially as shown and described.

JAMES MCKENZIE. CHARLES ORLANDO SHAW.

\Vitnesses:

FRANK SHEPHERD, O. S. REILLEY.

